Image Credits: Henrik Rieß
Project Overview:
Spring 2024, Spring 2025
Berlin International University of Applied Sciences
Categories:
Speculative Design, Critical Design Practice, Graphic Design, Visual Communication Design, Interaction Design
'Bloom' explores speculative futures of human-plant relationships for the year 2050 within the context of the climate crisis and global ecological upheaval.
Student teams create multi-layered future scenarios beyond dystopian binaries, instead aiming for implicative futures that – rather than being judgmental – imply the consequences of current global trends continuing to accelerate.
Central to 'Bloom' is a shift away from purely human-centered design. The project cultivates future literacy by embracing plant-centered and system-centric perspectives. Through group-based trend research, foresight analysis tools, and generative AI experiments, students develop critical 'provotypes' – that challenge assumptions – reflecting reimagined ecologies and new modes of living.
See all ‘Bloom beyond your Borders’ Projects
Each project contains at least one tangible artifact from the future with a corresponding digital counterpart. Both elements converge on an interactive projection table that reads and interprets the physical objects, revealing layers of speculative meaning and potential futures embedded within the artifacts.
Contact:
Prof. Henrik Rieß
Head of Program B.A. Graphic Design and Visual Communication
Faculty of Architecture and Design
Whitecliffe University of Applied Sciences
Salzufer 6, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 81 05 80 80
Email: riess(✺)whitecliffe.de
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